1. Schools as Organizations
1.1. Governance
1.1.1. Senators
1.1.1.1. 1.)Richard Shelby
1.1.1.2. 2.) Jefferson Sessions
1.1.2. House of Representatives
1.1.2.1. District 1: Bradley Byrne
1.1.2.2. District 2: Martha Roby
1.1.2.3. District 3: Mike Rogers
1.1.2.4. District 4 ( my district) : Robert Aderholt
1.1.2.5. District 5: Mo Brooks
1.1.2.6. District 6: Gary Palmer
1.1.2.7. District 7: Terri Sewell
1.1.3. State Superintendent
1.1.3.1. Tommy Bice
1.1.4. State School Board Representative
1.1.4.1. Governor Robert Bentley
1.1.5. Local Superintendent
1.1.5.1. Hugh Taylor
1.1.6. Local School Board
1.1.6.1. DeKalb County Board of Education
1.1.6.2. Chairman: Matt Sharp
1.1.6.3. Vice Chairman: Jeff Williams
1.1.6.4. Member: Randy Peppers
1.1.6.5. Member: Mark Richards
1.1.6.6. Member: Terry Wootten
1.2. Comparison to another country
1.2.1. United Kingdom- works with 11 agencies.
1.2.2. 1.) The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation
1.2.3. 2.) The Office of Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skils
1.2.4. 3.) The Education Funding Agency
1.2.5. 4.) National college for Teaching and Leadership
1.2.6. 5.) Standards and Testing Agency
1.2.7. 6.) Equality and Human Rights Commision
1.2.8. 7.) Office of the Children's Commissioner
1.2.9. 8.) School Teachers' Review Body
1.2.10. 9.) Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission
1.2.11. 10.) Government Equalities Office
1.2.12. 11.) Office of the Schools Adjudicator
2. Curriculum and Pedagogy
2.1. Sociological Curriculum Theory
2.1.1. 1.) The sociologist of curriculum have focused on not only what is taught but why it is taught. The sociology of the curriculum concentrates on the function of what is taught in schools and its relationship to the role of schools within society.
2.1.1.1. Functionalists believe the role of the schools is to integrate children into the existing social order- a social order that is based on consensus and agreement
2.1.1.2. Conflict theorist believe that the role of schools is to reproduce the existing social order- a social order that represents the dominant groups in society.
2.2. Historical Curriculum Theory
2.2.1. There are four curriculum theories listed.
2.2.1.1. 1.) Humanist- the idealist philosophy that knowledge of the traditional liberal arts is the cornerstone of an educated citizenry and that the purpose of education is the present to students the best of what has been thought and written.
2.2.1.2. 2.) Social Efficiency- a pragmatist approach developed as a putatively democratic response to the development of mass public secondary education.
2.2.1.3. 3.) Developmentalist- relates to the needs and interests of the student rather than the needs of society
2.2.1.4. 4.) Social Meliorist- based off of social reconstruction as a well a response to the growing dominance of the social efficiency curriculum.
3. Equality of Opportunity
3.1. Educational Achievement and Attainment (Special Needs)
3.1.1. 1.) The field of special education has mirrored the debates about equality of educational opportunity and the concern with the appropriate placement of students with special educational needs.
3.1.2. 2.) Disability studies theorists argue that the handicapping conditions are for the most part socially constructed and although there may be cognitive differences at the polar ends, the vast majority of children labelled as handicapped can be better served in main stream settings.
3.1.3. 3.) It is said that far too many students have been labeled and placed into special education classes. These classes have resulted in life time sentences that have limited their educational opportunities.
3.2. Response to the Coleman story
3.2.1. 1.) In round one of the response to Coleman, McDill concluded that where an individual goes to school has little effect on how his/her cognitive growth or educational mobility.
3.2.2. 2.) Findings leave one to believe that the road to equality of opportunity does not go through the school house door.
3.2.3. 3.) At a research point of view, these findings are not terribly convincing. This lead to Coleman and his colleagues at the University of Chicago to re-enter the debate.
4. Educational Inequality
4.1. Sociological Explanations of Unequal Achievement
4.1.1. 1.) Interactionism suggests that one must understand how people within institutions such as families and schools interact on a daily basis in order to comprehend the factors explaining academic success and failure.
4.1.2. 2.) Explaining race, class, and gender inequalities requires research. The first is centered on factors outside of the school such as the family, community, culture of the group, peer group, and the individual student.
4.1.3. 3.) The second part of research is conducted within the schools. They center around the teacher, teaching methods, curriculum, ability grouping, and curriculum tracking.
4.2. School Centered Explanation
4.2.1. 1.) Reports suggest that differences among the groups of students had a greater impact on educational performance. Also, by Jencks and colleagues, indicate that differences between schools in privileged areas and in the economically disadvantaged areas had been exaggerated. Differences did exist but did not explain inequalities.
4.2.2. 2.) Research suggested that there were far more significant differences in academics in the same school rather than differences from one school to another.
4.2.3. 3.) Research by Coleman and Jencks have doubt on the claim that differences between schools explained the performance gap among students from different socioeconomic or radical backgrounds.
5. Politics of Education
5.1. PROGRESSIVE VISION
5.1.1. 1.) The progressive vision of education began in the late 19th century with the belief that schools should provide a place where people can work together to improve society.
5.1.2. 2.) Each student is taught to put forth his/her best effort in order to reach full potential.
5.1.3. 3.) Traditional curriculum's are deemed to be inadequate and learning must include hands on experiences.
5.2. LIBERAL PERSPECTIVE
5.2.1. 1.) The liberal perspective originated with the view points of John Dewey.
5.2.2. 2.) Theorist, John Maynard Keynes, believes that government intervention is necessary in order to provide for all citizens economically, politically, and socially.
5.2.3. 3.) Liberals support the balance of economics resulting in equality for all citizens with no regard as to their wealth or political position.
6. History of U.S Education
6.1. REFORM CYCLE BY WAY OF BROWN VS TOPEKA BOARD OF EDUCATION
6.1.1. 1.) The U.S supreme court with chief justice Earl Warren ruled that segregation of schools was unconstitutional as states had imposed in their school systems.
6.1.2. 2.) Although the order for desegregation was met with much resistance, is also ignited the fight for equality in education opportunities for all minorities including African Americans.
6.1.3. 3.) James Coleman, a social scientist, focused on poor education achievement resulting from family background more than the quality of schools attended. Project Head Start was developed to provide early education for the disadvantaged.
6.2. THE DEMOCRATIC- LIBERAL SCHOOL INTERPRETATION
6.2.1. 1.)Democratic- Liberals believe that the history of U.S education involves the progression of school systems, providing equal opportunities for everyone.
6.2.2. 2.) The historians, Ellwood Cubberly and Merle Curti, look at the school era as a victory for the democrats to opening U.S education to all.
6.2.3. 3.) In the book, Popular Education and Its Discontents, Lawrence A. Cremin gives his democratic- liberal perspective. He says, " That ind of organization is part of the genius of American education- it provides a place for everyone who wishes one, and in the end yields one of the most educated populations in the world."
7. Sociology of Education
7.1. Relationship Between School & Society
7.1.1. 1.) Emile Durkheim, inventor of sociology of education, noticed that education was changing along with society. He believed that moral values were the foundation of society. This set the tone for present- day functionalists who study education.
7.1.2. 2.) Karl Marx is the intellectual founder of the conflict school in sociology of education. Marx's had liberals and leftist thinkers believing the only way to a more just and productive society is the abolition or modification of capitalism and the introduction of socialism. Other sociologist believe Marx over looks the power of culture and human agency in promoting change. The conflict perspective offers important insights about the relation between school and society.
7.1.3. 3.) Interactional theories about the relation of school and society is pretty much the analysis and add- on of the functional and conflict perspectives. This theory helps to show the "big picture" or overall understanding of education. On the down side, this does not show what school is like on a daily basis.
7.2. 3 Effects of Schooling on Individuals
7.2.1. 1.) Knowledge and attitudes- Ron Edmonds, pioneer of the effective schools movement, believes that different academic programs & policies does make a difference in student learning. Academic oriented schools produce higher rates of learning. Students show that the more education an individual receives, the more likely they are to read, obtain knowledge, and be a part of public affairs.
7.2.2. 2.) Employment- Students who graduate High School seem to help them obtain a job with a higher status. Although, if they decide to attend a college it will usually result in a higher income. After Berg done observations on several workers, he determined that schooling works as a gate keeper. This determines who will get employed in high- status occupations; even though, schools do not provide job skills for their graduates.
7.2.3. 3.) Education and Mobility- Most Americans believe that more education leads to economic & social mobility. Hopper (1971) pointed out the differences between how much education students are receiving and how they will receive it. Private and public school often teach the same amount of education but receiving a private school diploma automatically gives that student a higher rank. The middle class people look at education as being able to move up in life. The poor and rich look at education as if it will do nothing for them. Education and mobility is still being debated among scholars and policy makers.
8. Philosophy of Education
8.1. Generic Notation
8.1.1. Pragmatism is influenced by the theory of evolution and the beliefs in progress which enables children to learn cooperatively in a democratic society.
8.2. Key Researchers
8.2.1. John Dewey was an american philosopher and psychologist that was behind pregressivism.
8.3. Goal of Education
8.3.1. A. Teachers will encourage a natural desire to learn. B. Students will be able to relate personal knowledge to real world experiences. C. Students will be able to provide immediate feedback for all experiences. D. Students will be able to apply knowledge in new situations
8.4. Role of Teacher
8.4.1. A. Teachers will provide feedback for students. B. Teachers will allow student led assignments. C. Teachers will prepare a child for the future.
8.5. Method of Instruction
8.5.1. 1.) Learning and teaching with technology should be integrated in to schools. 2.) Teaching and learning will be based off of real life situations
8.6. Curriculum
8.6.1. Teachers will provide broad themes and objectives. They will include personal experiences from students, and will be based of a developmentalist curriculum.
9. Educational Reform
9.1. School- based reforms
9.1.1. School- to- work reforms
9.1.1.1. 1.) The students will be provided with relevant education, allowing students to explore different careers and see what skills are required int their working environment.
9.1.1.2. 2.) The students will be provided with skills, obtained from structured training and work-based learning experiences, including necessary skills of a particular career as demonstrated in a working environment.
9.1.1.3. 3.) The students will be provided with valued credentials, establishing industry- standard benchmarks and developing education and training standards that ensure proper education is received for each career.
9.2. Societal, Community, Economic, or Political Reforms
9.2.1. 1.) Another way to attack education inequity is to examine and plan to educate not only the whole child, but also the whole community.
9.2.2. 2.) Harlem Children's Zone
9.2.2.1. Canada provides programs for parents in Harlem before their children are even born in attempt to infuse all knowledge that middle-class parents know they should do for their fetuses and infants in a "sensitive way"
9.2.2.2. Baby college will even purchase items that parents need and can not afford for their homes.
9.2.2.3. Canada is hoping that everything gets passed down in the families in hopes of their children being academically successful.
9.2.2.4. Canada's formula along with an extended school day ended up being very successful. The students improved their state test results to meet grade level requirements in math and reading.